Fluidity, risk and crucial differences: Fonseca pursuing what Pioli abandoned

There can be no doubt that the AC Milan team that took to the field against Sassuolo was the maximum expression of the type of football desired by Paulo Fonseca.

Before diving into this piece, we must add the obvious caveat that to many a game against a team in Serie B will not produce any concrete takeaways. However, what good is a competitive game with seven goals if they cannot be analysed.

What we saw from Milan was a positional style of football, not very tied to a fixed formation and instead reliant on pressing, counter-pressing and intuitive movement. It was a dominant style, something Fonseca reiterated he wants even after terrible performances.

Finally yesterday against Sassuolo it was seen in all its magnificence. Of course it was the cup and the opponents were lesser, but looking at the way Milan played last night we finally understood what the coach had in mind all these months.

Fonseca pursuing what Pioli only attempted

We cannot hide how Milan’s way of playing on the pitch last night brought to mind the first games of Stefano Pioli’s final season. More specifically, we are talking about a team that started strong by beating Bologna, Torino and Roma and then collapsed badly against Inter 5-1.

That defeat was the point of no return for Pioli who from that moment decided to lay down his arms in order to achieve a ‘greater balance’ (yes, it was said even then), finishing the season in second place but never really being involved in the fight for the Scudetto due to Inter’s pace.

Fonseca’s Milan certainly took longer to get going – probably too long, in the eyes of many – but it is based on the same principles which can be looked at in detail.

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The similarities

What initially made us think of the comparison was the work on the right flank with Davide Calabria. The Italian on paper is a full-back, yet we saw him playing up and down the flank while also moving centrally often, practically acting as a mezzala.

On the contrary, Samuel Chukwueze practically played the entire wing, often finding himself in the phase of retreating in line with the defenders and then rising as a ‘fluidifier’. It was not too dissimilar to Yunus Musah’s hybrid role seen against Real Madrid, Juventus and Empoli.

Some of you may remember that it is exactly what Milan did at the start of last season with Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez on one side and then Calabria and Christian Pulisic on the other. The flanks moved in tandem and harmony, ying and yang if you will.

The similarities do not end there. Even with Pioli’s Milan the difference was made by the movement of the actual box-to-box midfield players Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tijjani Reijnders.

The Dutchman and the Englishman – both with Pioli and with Fonseca – enjoy greater freedom given the excess number in midfield created by the addition of the inverted full-backs and the already established presence of the balancer Youssouf Fofana, the role played last year by Rade Krunic.

In this way, the two midfielders represent not only Milan’s first pressing line, systematically moving up, but also the main source of assists, being able to move freely in the spaces left free by the opponents.

Coming then to the ‘balancer’, Fofana (Krunic in the past) is the link that unites the defence and midfield, often starting as an additional central defender and then being able to move up to midfield during possession.

The differences between the ‘two Milans’

The difference, and perhaps the final straw of what were Pioli’s most critical problems at that time, is made by the characteristics of the individuals and Rafael Leao. But let’s go in order.

1. First of all, Fofana is a better interceptor than Krunic and Reijnders is a much more complete player than he was a season ago.
2.  Tammy Abraham and Alvaro Morata are pseudo centre-forwards. Both are less present in the area than Olivier Giroud, but more skilled when it comes to movement, build-up and also work hard out of possession.
3. Theo Hernandez is less fundamental than in the past as Milan have another attacking full-back this year: Emerson Royal.
4. Under Fonseca, Milan have discovered greater versatility: almost all the players at the coach’s disposal can cover multiple roles depending on the situation (Musah as full-back/midfielder, Morata as striker/attacking midfielder, Pulisic as winger/attacking midfielder, etc.).

The representative symbol

A special mention must go to Leao, who today appears to be a different player than how we have always seen him in the five seasons that he played prior, almost all of which were under Pioli.

The Portuguese – perhaps for the first time, aside from when used as an emergency striker – does not seem anchored to the left touchline. Instead he ranges more and, even more importantly, knows how to read the situations by attacking the space in behind.

This ability is the extra weapon of Fonseca’s attack which can therefore allow itself perhaps less fluidity (but greater coverage) compared to the right flank, and a pure sprinter like Leao always ready to spring forward in the event of a rapid vertical movement of the ball.

The perfect example of this might be the Slovan Bratislava game. Noah Okafor toiled on the left with little joy for 45 minutes, Leao came on at half-time and midway through the second half he made a brilliant run in behind the Slovan low block, collecting and finishing to restore the lead.

Looking at the goal that he scored last night against Sassuolo, it was yet another diagonal run across from his usual position towards the right side of the box. It also gives him another way to unleash his right-footed shot, given he usually cuts in and curls.

Further proof can be found in the 2-2 draw with Lazio nearer the start of the season, showing it isn’t necessarily just a new instruction. He had just come off the bench and scored in a very similar way to his most recent goal.

The common thread in the games with the goals mentioned is the positive relationship he seems to have struck up with Abraham. The two have gelled well: they often move in tandem, finding each other with nice combination play and realising each others’ athletic strengths.

The caveats

First of all, we are considering three games for this evaluation (Empoli, Juve and Sassuolo) that were all played in November. Thus, it might be a bit late to try to trace a team identity that at this point in the season should have already been established.

Secondly, we largely cut out the challenge with Slovan Bratislava, a match in which several of the dynamics discussed in this article were not repeated. Milan did score three goals and won, though everyone admitted it was not an up to par performance.

The biggest unknown concerns the stability of this style of play. For Pioli, conceding five goals in the derby was the reason to suspend the experiment and move to a more transitional game, closely tied to individual play rather than to the synergistic work of the team.

What gives us hope, paradoxically, is the stubbornness of Fonseca. The Portuguese coach has had a first season so far made up of lows and highs, but he deserves credit for never having changed his ideas. How long will it last? Who knows, but perhaps it will be worth seeing how it ends.